The Virginia Purl is a blog about my knitting, crocheting, spinning, gardening and cooking. Hopefully when you visit you will take away something useful even if it's just a smile.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Hats off to Me!Well, it's about time. I have had the darnest time getting my knitting to turn out correctly. I have ripped out so many things in the last few weeks, I am beginning to wonder if I am better at that than the actual knitting itself. So I am ticked pink, blue, black, white, yellow, and green to say...I finally got something to turn out and get done!! It only took three tries, but it's done, done, done!

This was my first attempt. After sitting proudly and admiring my handy work, I found a whole series of errors. I forgot to do one YO in the pattern from the beginning of the pattern row. So all of the other sections looked good except for one. So I frogged it and started it all over. I did not knit a swatch, because I was using 4 dpns and figured that it would okay. It looked too small to me and so when I started on version #2 I upped my needle size to 5s. Then I started looking at it and it was huge. The hat was so huge, my 23 yr. old son tried it on for me. Of course I was not permitted to take a picture. But take my word for it; it was huge!

I really liked the way it looked and decided that since it's too big for the nephew, I would just donate it. I still had about 1 1/3 balls left. So I worked on version #3 and got it correct. I did go back to the 4s and they were a much better choice. The hat, thankfully, is too small for the #2 son. I know he will be relieved that he doesn't have to try on another dorky little kid's hat again. He'll get over it!!

This is what I was trying to make. It will fit a two or three year old, I think. This is the book I got the hat pattern from. And now the REAL results! Here are the efforts up close... Truly, I did not understand how just one needle size would make something so much larger than what I expected. Okay, I hear all of you out there saying, "Daffy girl the key word is GAUGE!"

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

DiversionAfter ranting and raving about knitting my current lace project, I have to have a diversion. I have been making more progress on that than my lace. I need it to keep from hurting any innocent by-stander at my house. The dogs run for cover when I pull out the lace and my husband hits the garage.

When I whip out my sock, every knows there will be peace throughout the land of the crabby lace knitter. For some reason, the sock pattern that I learned from Sue has soothed the savage beast in me until I can gather myself to calmly try the lace project again. So I am making wonderful progress on my sock but the lace, not so much. I will wear socks before the lace so...I tend to work more on the sock lately than anything else.I finished the first sock only to my shock and horror that I can't make the strips match. I have unraveled and rewound the ball a million times to find the correct stripping sequence and can't find it. There is one section in the skein that has a very small color varation that I can't find. I even had hubby take a look with me and he said he didn't see it either. He is an art and color driven person, so I trust his judgement. Here is what I mean...

Can you see the very top of the sock. Well those two very tiny bands of color are the half way point of the sock. So I should have started the sock at the next set that looks just like it after the little blip of green. I can not find that color sequence again, except for those two places right there. The second sock should have been started between the two little skimpy bands of purple and blue. So I called TKC and they are looking for another skein of this yarn so I can knit the other sock to match this one. Then I will have two pairs of matched socks eventually. I really wasn't shooting for that, but what the hey! It's been a learning experience about splitting the ball in half and looking for color varations. I have never tried to match strips before. So I have learned a lesson and will be more careful next time I am thinking about matching strips. I think maybe I should look at the skein BEFORE I get a bright idea. Duh! So here is the finished effort. The second one will either be on hold for a while or there will not be a matched set because Susan can not find my another skein. Oh well, at least I will have another pair of wonderful socks to walk around the house in during the winter.

I have also been trying to work on a little hat for my nephew when I am not having tantrums about the lace. It looked like this earlier today... Then I got near the end and discovered I had read the decreasing directions incorrectly and ripped the whole thing out. I will try to work on it again later next week. I need to get larger needles. I think my gauge was really out of whack and it was just looking way too small for Zach's head. So it was another lesson. I did like how it was starting to look. It's a quick knit so I wasn't too upset that I ripped it out. So on to the next thing.... Okay, I have made some progress until late this afternoon. I thought I was going full guns on this and then the count wasn't coming out correctly. I have ripped out until I just had to walk away. I thought maybe I would make some progress on it but I can't seem to get past a certain row. So it might have to wait for Sue's eagle eye to tell me what I am doing wrong. So now let's recap. I have one sock and have to stop that so Susan can order me another skein, I ripped out the hat I had been working on after the sock problem, and now have ripped out at least 6-8 rows of the lace I managed to get done this past weekend. So what I need to do now is just go to bed and pull the covers up over my head and think about crocheting something....NOT.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Keeping SecretsI have been keeping this knitting project under my hat and at the rate that I am going, it just might stay there. The Knitting Corner has got an on going "class" using a past project as a kind of get together of knitters who are interested in polishing their skills as serious lace knitters. I thought I was until I got started. As I have reported here, I am a new chart reader. I am getting the hang of it, but it's slow and tedious. I find myself yelling at anyone or anything that breaks my concentration. I have to have total silence. The funny thing is, there are about nine women who all gather at the round table of ambious kintters every other Friday, and I flat can't knit there. Okay, I said it. I am thinking of knitting this project in the privacy of my own palace. I will have to knit socks or something else there. Why can't I concentrate? The project isn't really that hard. When I get to end of 99 stitches, I yell and scream when I have 101. Cripe! Now I have to go back and look at what I have just sweat bullets over and try to find those extra stitches. I spend more time doing that than I do the actual knitting of the row itself. I huff and puff and complain the whole time. Four letter words are involved in the privacy of home. Why am I torturing myself like this? Why? Why does anyone so frustrated keep knitting same row only to pick it out and knit it again? Because I am a knitter and can't take defeat!!! I will do this. Good thing that Sue told us in the beginning that this is a self-paced project. HA! Got that right. It might be months at the rate I am going to get this done, but I WILL FINISH IT!!! Now, let me go and rip out that sweater I started eons ago and really don't like. I know when to say when-okay maybe not.